Vanderbilt Engineering Professor Conducting Research That May Lead To The Next Level Of Automobile Engines

Date:

February 23, 1999

Source:

Vanderbilt University

Summary:

An automobile engine with 30 percent greater fuel efficiency than current models but that also meets U.S. emission standards is the goal of a Vanderbilt University engineer who is using advanced laser technology to help develop the next generation of automobile engines.

Share:

Total shares:

FULL STORY

An automobile engine with 30 percent greater fuel efficiency than current models but that also meets U.S. emission standards is the goal of a Vanderbilt University engineer who is using advanced laser technology to help develop the next generation of automobile engines.

Robert W. Pitz, professor and chair of mechanical engineering, is using advanced laser diagnostics to study the gasoline burning (combustion) characteristics in direct injection gasoline engines.

"Five or 10 years from now, the predominant engine that automobile consumers buy may well have direct injection," Pitz said. "Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan already make cars with direct injection engines that are being used in Japan and Mitsubishi is marketing these cars in Europe. Gasoline is expensive there and the emissions standards aren't as strict as ours. These engines give much better fuel economy in stop-and-start commuter driving, but they don't meet U.S. emission standards."

Pitz said conventional spark ignition motors deliver a pre-mix of fuel and air to be burned in the cylinder. In direct injection engines, air comes in through intake valves and fuel is sprayed into the cylinder late in the compression stroke to greatly improve engine efficiency at both idle and urban driving conditions.

Pitz's research will focus on ways to reduce or eliminate the pollutants produced by direct injection engines so that they will meet U.S. emission standards. He says that there are two ways to reduce automobile pollution: Produce such a complete and thorough burning of the fuel in the cylinder that virtually no pollutants are formed or use a catalytic converter to remove pollutants before the emission exits the exhaust pipe.

Pitz will attempt to reduce pollution by superior burning in the cylinder. With the help of research associate professor Joseph A. Wehrmeyer and graduate student Robin Osborne, a burner is being constructed at Vanderbilt that will simulate the kind of fuel-air stratification that is produced in a direct injection engine. The burner will have quartz windows so that Pitz can use his lasers to analyze flames and determine the chemical composition of pollutants.

"The analysis of stratified flames using lasers should lead to improved computer models of direct injection engines. The computer models could then be used by engine designers to optimize the design of the cylinders for the best clean-burning conditions," Pitz said.

Understandably, U.S. automakers like Ford, General Motors and Daimler-Chrysler are anxious to develop direct injection engines that meet current emission standards. All of them are testing prototype direct injection engines. Pitz estimates that such engines, which require an expensive high-pressure fuel injector, will cost about $1,000 more than conventional motors.

The Department of Energy is interested in the energy conservation that could be realized with direct injection engines. The DOE is funding Pitz's research with a three-year grant. He has sub-contracted a portion of the research to the University of Michigan and is collaborating with General Motors Research and Development Center.

Pitz received the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1987 in recognition of his achievements in combustion and laser diagnostics. He recently received a patent for a new method for unseeded velocity measurement for jet engines called ozone flow tagging. He has published more than 90 papers and received the AIAA award for the best paper in propellants and combustion in 1996.

Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Vanderbilt University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Vanderbilt University. "Vanderbilt Engineering Professor Conducting Research That May Lead To The Next Level Of Automobile Engines." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 February 1999. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/02/990223082617.htm>.

Vanderbilt University. (1999, February 23). Vanderbilt Engineering Professor Conducting Research That May Lead To The Next Level Of Automobile Engines. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 2, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/02/990223082617.htm

Vanderbilt University. "Vanderbilt Engineering Professor Conducting Research That May Lead To The Next Level Of Automobile Engines." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/02/990223082617.htm (accessed August 2, 2015).

Aug. 1, 2015  After debuting the world's first solar air battery last fall, researchers have now reached a new milestone. They report that their patent-pending design -- which combines a ... read more

July 29, 2015  Using a hybrid silica sol-gel material and self-assembled monolayers of a common fatty acid, researchers have developed a new capacitor dielectric material that provides an ... read more

July 31, 2015  As the demand grows for ever smaller, smarter electronics, so does the demand for understanding materials’ behavior at ever smaller scales. Physicists are building a unique ... read more

July 31, 2015  Nanoscale worlds sometimes resemble macroscale roller-coaster style hills, placed at the tip of a series of hexagons. Surprisingly, these nanohills stem from the self-organization of particles -- the ... read more

July 31, 2015  Precise targeting biological molecules, such as cancer cells, for treatment is a challenge, due to their sheer size. Now, scientists have proposed an advanced solution that can potentially be applied ... read more

July 30, 2015  The behavior of fruit flies, which are commonly used in laboratory experiments, is altered by electric fields, new research shows. The research indicates that the wings of the insects are disturbed ... read more

Nov. 27, 2013  Scientists have discovered a new compressive combustion principle that can yield engines with the ultimate level of efficiency. With a thermal efficiency of 60% or more in applications including ... read more

Nov. 2, 2012  At the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, scientists are studying the complex physics of rotating detonation engines which offer the potential for high dollar savings by way of reduced fuel consumption ... read more